Dreams of a Priestess
by RainbowPikachus
Summary: "Such tranquility. Such peace. The gods had been merciful. He had, admittedly, expected a much harsher after-life. "


The silence felt so strange to him now.

It was a peaceful, serene silence. He could only hear the leaves around him rustling, dancing in the wind; and the occasional sounds of birds chirping and singing. Birds...he'd forgotten about birds. He'd forgotten what it felt like to listen to their chants in the early morning. Ah, yes. The smell of the morning. With his eyes closed, it was so easy to get lost in his surroundings. The air was humid, and he could smell the wet earth from the previous night's rain. Laying on a sheet of straw in a small cave gave him an odd sense of nostalgia.

Such tranquility. Such peace. The gods had been merciful. He had, admittedly, expected a much harsher after-life.

"You're awake, I see."

That voice. He'd heard it somewhere before. It was a rather gentle, albeit indifferent voice. As if the words being spoken were merely a cordiality rather than something spontaneous. It was a voice that took him back, several years. A voice which he had once gone to great lengths to see silenced forever.

And also a voice that he had spent several lonely hours longing for.

Upon opening his eyes, he was taken aback by the sight of the miko, despite recognizing her voice more than well. She knelt beside him.

"...Kikyou." he said. Not even he could identify what emotion was expressed through his voice. He was wary of her, unsure of her intentions - although it was not difficult to guess what they were, given everything that had happened. It was strange. While he remembered his entire past, his past that was full of cruelty, wrath and hatred; he struggled to recall how he'd ended up where he was. Or what he was doing there.

Quietly, the priestess picked up what seemed to be a basket full of herbs, taking some of them into her hands and, to his great surprise, applying them gently to his chest. And then he felt pain. A sharp, stinging pain.

_...Pain?_

It all suddenly came back to him. Kagome had shot him with her arrow, eliminating both he and the Shikon no Tama from the world of the living. And now here he was. He preferred not to question the impossibility of the situation, but rather take it in and cherish it, because it seemed simply too good to be true. Something told him it would not last long.

But remembering the events which lead him to his death did not explain Kikyou's behavior. Had he not been the one who killed her? The one who was her sworn enemy for her entire second life, so to say? Had he not tortured and killed thousands of innocent people - simply to reach her? How could she possibly forgive him for all of his wrongdoings? Why was she tending to his wound? Was she plotting something?

He could feel the anxiety beginning to rush through his veins as questions flooded his mind. Despite this, Kikyou wore a perfectly calm expression on her face. She regarded him without a word. He studied her face for hints of the cunning woman he knew she could be, but he did not find any. All he could see was pale, silk smooth skin, plump rose-colored lips, deep brown eyes, and luscious raven hair. For only a short moment, he questioned how he could possibly once have vowed to destroy such a lovely face.

"What is the meaning of this, Kikyou?" he finally asked, breaking the long silence which had formed between them. She could sense his fear through his very words. The priestess repressed a sigh. Not of frustration, but of...sadness. How sad it made her. To see that he, in his current state, feared her. She found it understandable, of course, albeit strangely disappointing.

"You are in no position to question the help being given to you, Naraku". When the sound of his name escaped from her lips, he could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat.

"If you wish for me to leave, tell me so". He once again regarded her with suspicion; once again unable to believe that she was in fact saying these words to him. For the time being, he would not question them.

Putting down the herbs she previously had in hand, Kikyou picked up a bowl and spoon, gently stirring what appeared to be soup using the latter. Withdrawing it from the bowl, she brought it to his lips, and he, for some reason, accepted it instinctively. The taste was salty and delicious...and slightly nostalgic, too. After he he swallowed it down, Naraku shut his eyes before speaking again.

"Have you truly forgiven me...Kikyou?". Part of him was afraid of hearing the miko's response, but it came all too quickly.

"Forgive you? There is no forgiving for your actions. They were too heinous for that."

"Then why do you care for me now?"

"Because, dead or alive, I am a priestess. The fact that your soul has been brought here must mean that you are capable of redeeming it. This will be your one chance. Do not waste it, Naraku". While her words were sincere, he had a feeling that she was hiding something.

Laying down in the cave in the early morning, being tended to by a selfless, caring Kikyou, gave him the strongest feeling of dejá vu. It was just like before. Unexplainable feelings began to invade Naraku's mind. He no longer felt anger, nor hatred, nor a desperate need for anything. All of those things were gone. All of them. Even the bitter, agonizing loneliness that he had felt so long. Kikyou was there. Not to challenge him, nor to question him, but simply to keep him friendly company. He felt warmth flowing through his body. Yes. He was at peace. This is what he had been longing for.

After several minutes of silently feeding soup to him, the miko finally put down the bowl once again, and stood up, leaving her back turned to him.

"I'm going to find some more herbs. I'll be back soon". Hearing those words triggered an unfamiliar reaction in him. He was suddenly alarmed, tempted to demand that she stay, if only for just a while longer. But he stopped himself. She took only two steps towards the exit, before pausing once again.

"I heard it."

"...What?"

"I heard your true wish...Naraku." And with those words, she left the cave, leaving him in solitude once more.

He opened his eyes all of a sudden. If he had a heart inside him, it would have been racing. Sitting up, he examined his surroundings. He was in the main room of his castle. A nearly complete shard of the Shikon no Tama was in his hand. It was the middle of the night, and it was windy and cold and lonely. So very lonely. Painfully lonely.

It had been a dream.

That realization hit him like a lightning bolt, causing a deep internal pain in his hollow chest, much different from the pain he'd experienced from the wounds in his dream. No, this was unlike that. This was the pain from knowing that somewhere out there, Kikyou still wandered the earth in her imitation body. She could be anywhere. Perhaps alone in the mountains. Perhaps near a stream. Perhaps in Inuyasha's arms. And she loved Inuyasha.

But she hated him. And she intended to kill him. That was the real Kikyou. That was the only purpose of her existence.

He would never see the woman in his dream again.

Not in this world, or in the next.


End file.
